Kathmandu— The American Chamber of Commerce in Nepal (AmCham Nepal), in partnership with the U.S. Embassy Kathmandu, convened a Business Roundtable with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office(USPTO) on October 6, bringing togethermore than 30 legal representatives and business leaders from AmCham member companies to discuss intellectual property (IP), trademark protection, innovation and business confidence in Nepal.
The roundtable featured ShailendraBhumralkar, Intellectual PropertyAttaché for South Asia, USPTO, and Shilpi Jha, Senior Commercial Specialist and IP Policy Advisor for South Asia, who engaged directly with businesses on their experiences and concerns.
Participants from various AmCham companies raised issues related to trademark imitation, consumer confusion, protection of brand goodwill, source-code theft, intellectual propertyand creative industries, taxation of intangible products, and the need for greater predictability and consistency in IP protection and enforcement.
“Intellectual property is no longersimply a legal or regulatory issue. For businesses, it is increasingly a questionof confidence—confidence to innovate, investand build brands,” said Kailash Bijayananda, Chair, AmCham Nepal.
The USPTO representatives sharedtheir experience of working with law-enforcement agencies and other stakeholders on IP awareness initiatives and briefed participants on relevant USPTO resources, including the Accelerator Grant Program.
Nepal's commitments under the Paris Convention and WTO/TRIPS framework provide an important foundation for IP protection. The roundtable highlighted the opportunity to strengthen implementation through greater awareness, predictability, timely action and consistent enforcement.
AmCham Nepalemphasized that strongerIP protection is not aboutinternational brands versus Nepali businesses. A credible IP ecosystem benefits Nepali innovators, entrepreneurs, creative industries and technology companies alongside international investors and established brands.
“We hope to move from awareness to intelligence, from intelligence to solutions, and ultimately from solutions to partnership,” said Amir R. Thapa, Executive Director, AmCham Nepal, who moderated the session. “Our objective is not simply to understand
intellectual propertybetter. It is to creategreater confidence for businesses to innovate, invest and build across the U.S.–Nepal commercial relationship.”
The engagement reflects AmCham Nepal's broader role in connecting American and Nepali businesses, U.S. institutions and Nepal's policy and regulatory ecosystem to strengthen trade, investment, innovation and commercial ties.
About AmCham Nepal
The American Chamber of Commerce in Nepal (AmCham Nepal) represents American and internationally connected businesses operating in Nepal. AmCham works to strengthen the U.S.–Nepal commercial relationship through trade, investment, entrepreneurship, innovation and constructive policy dialogue.
